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January 9, 2013

Northwestern Mutual to Hire 5,500 This Year

This goal comes on the heels of the life insurance firm’s 2012 recruiting of 5,000 financial professionals

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance said Tuesday that it aims to add 5,500 financial professionals to its workforce this year due to the increasing consumer demand for financial security planning.

Last year, the insurance firm says, it beat its recruiting goal of 5,000 financial professionals.

"We exceeded our recruitment goal for 2012 by several hundred and are excited to increase our goal for this year by several hundred more," said Steve Mannebach (left), vice president of field growth and development at Northwestern Mutual, in a press release.

According to Mannebach, the Milwaukee-based company sees “a need and a demand nationwide for a tailored planning approach to asset protection, growth and savings solutions.”

The executive adds that growth of Northwestern Mutual’s workforce can be at least partly attributed to its financial strength and its dividends, which the company recently announced would total more than $5 billion in 2013.

Northwestern Mutual says more than half of its new financial representatives should be professionals who are changing careers, an approach followed by some broker-dealers like Edward Jones.

"For those with the right background who are looking to start a new career and want to get into financial planning, now is an opportune time," said Mannebach in a statement.

In 2012, Fortune magazine names Northwestern Mutual one of the "World's Most Admired" life insurance companies. Its financial representatives are some of the most satisfied in the industry, according to J.D. Power and Associates' 2012 U.S. Financial Advisor Satisfaction Study.